Arthropod acoustic communication is a primary focus at the Patek Lab. Here you can find our acoustically oriented research projects along with sounds and video of spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) and mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda).
Sheila Patek
Patek received her A.B. with honors in Biology from Harvard University followed by a Ph.D. in Biology from Duke University. She was then awarded a Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley. She has received several honors, including the George A. Bartholomew Award for distinguished contributions to comparative physiology, a Radcliffe Fellowship, a NSF CAREER award, and the Brilliant 10 award from Popular Science magazine. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Hellman Family Foundation, Armstrong Fund for Science, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and others.
Publications
- Crustacean seismic communication: heard but not present?.
- Extreme impact and cavitation forces of a biological hammer: strike forces of the peacock mantis shrimp Odontodactylus scyllarus.
- Phylogeny, scaling and the generation of extreme forces in trap-jaw ants.
- Multifunctionality and mechanical origins: ballistic jaw propulsion in trap-jaw ants
- Phylogeny and evolution of lobsters.
- Elastic energy storage in the mantis shrimp’s fast predatory strike
- Disentangling defense: the function of spiny lobster sounds.
- The stomatopod rumble: sound production in Hemisquilla californiensis.
- The captured launch of a ballistospore.
- Deadly strike mechanism of a mantis shrimp.
- The evolution of larval morphology and swimming performance in ascidians.
- Comparative tests of evolutionary tradeoffs in a palinurid lobster acoustic system.
- Two sniffing strategies in palinurid lobsters.
- Squeaking with a sliding joint: mechanics and motor control of sound production in spiny lobsters.
- Spiny lobsters stick and slip to make sound.
- Vertebral column morphology, C-start curvature, and the evolution of mechanical defenses in tetraodontiform fishes.
- Sound production during feeding in Hippocampus seahorses (Syngnathidae)
- Linkage mechanics and power amplification of the mantis shrimp's strike.
- The acoustics and acoustic behavior of the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus).
- The acoustic mechanics of stick-slip friction in the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus).
- Ritualized fighting and biological armor: the impact mechanics of the mantis shrimp’s telson
- Modularity and scaling in fast movements: power amplification in mantis shrimp
- From bouncy legs to poisoned arrows: elastic movements in invertebrates
- Grand opportunities: Strategies for addressing grand challenges in organismal animal biology
- Rumbling in the benthos: acoustic ecology of the California mantis shrimp Hemisquilla californiensis
- Gearing for speed slows the predatory strike of a mantis shrimp
- Strike mechanics of an ambush predator: the spearing mantis shrimp
- Comparative spring mechanics in mantis shrimp
- Mechanics of adaptive radiation: Genotype to resource use
- Acoustic signal evolution: biomechanics, size, and performance
- Internal Morphology (Treatise on Zoology, Stomatopoda)





